Teesside colleges are bracing themselves for hundreds of thousands of pounds in cuts to funding for 18-year-olds in full-time education.

For one college alone - Middlesbrough College - it will equate to a staggering £700,000 less in its teaching budget.

Two colleges in Stockton - Stockton Sixth Form and Stockton Riverside - stand to lose around £140,000 between them.

The Education Funding Agency announced plans in December to save £150m by paying 17.5% less for the full-time education of 18-year-olds than for 16 and 17-year-olds.

The agency said the cut would come into force for 2014/15, by which time, it argued, most 18-year-olds would not need “as much non-qualification provision within their study programmes” because they will have already benefited from two years of post-16 education.

It is estimated the move would affect 100,000 18-year-olds in UK colleges, plus those in sixth forms and studying foundation courses in universities.

But the cuts have been criticised by Teesside college chiefs and Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham.

Zoe Lewis, principal at Middlesbrough College, estimates the policy will equate to a cut of almost £700,000 next year.

She said the cuts “cannot be accommodated by delivering fewer teaching hours to those 18-year-old students - as the Government apparently envisages”, given that the college delivers to groups of mixed ages.

“This policy fundamentally misunderstands the reality of post-16 learning, particularly in communities with lower than average GCSE attainment levels where many students clearly take longer to reach their first level 3 qualification.

“The college is lobbying Government intensively with evidence of the impact on the local community here in Teesside and is working with local MPs and the principals of fellow colleges to ensure that the effects of this policy are properly understood.”

Joanna Bailey, principal at Stockton Sixth Form College, said: “Some 70 students at Stockton Sixth Form College enrolled in September aged 18. Each one of them has a different story about why they have needed to take three years to complete their qualifications at level 3 – usually through no fault of their own.

“The coalition has already cut college incomes by 15%. They should be helping colleges to nurture the talent of these young people, rather than bankrolling inefficient free schools and school sixth forms in areas where there is already a surplus of places.”

Labour MP Mr Cunningham was concerned the funding cuts will further disadvantage those already in need of the greatest support and will have a disproportionate impact for higher education institutions and general further education colleges.

He said: “It is important we realise that funding for 16 to 18-year-olds is already 22% lower than for pre-16 education, and these further cuts will serve only to exacerbate this discrepancy.

“Yet those 18-year-olds needing extra time at college to complete their courses are often in that position as a result of weaknesses elsewhere in the education system. Penalising colleges will not help to address this.”